Transcript of Rep. Chris Pappas on Trump Failures and NH Senate Race New

Donald Trump is panicking as it has become official. Donald Trump has the worst approval rating in United States history, worse than Richard Nixon before Nixon resigned. Let me share with you the results of some of the latest polling right now that has Donald Trump as the least popular president in US history. Here's what Harry Enten had to say earlier. Let's play it.

Good. No, the cake is getting baked and what's being baked And daisies, I'll tell you that much. I mean, just take a look here. Okay, Trump's net approval rating. You know, a lot of stuff has happened over the last few months. Has any of that really lifted Trump from record lows for these given pollsters or second record lows? Not really. I mean, just take a look here. The Washington Post, his all-time lowest was -25 points back in April in terms of his net approval rating, it's approval minus disapproval. Now it's the second worst, tied for the second worst of all time at -24 points. CNBC was at his second lowest level at -18 points, and now he's at the record low for him in CNBC, -19 points. When you put it together, what essentially is going on is there are a lot of events in the world, but this cake, as we get closer and closer to the midterm elections, is starting to look at least a little bit baked here. All right, I mean, I suppose you could say if you're Republican, the good news is not getting worse, but you actually need to be getting better, correct?

These are, these are, these are horrible numbers, Johnny B. So put it in historical perspective. Yeah, just how horrible are these numbers? I mean, it's the worst this century. For a president at this point in his second term when you look at an average of the CNBC and Washington Post polls. I mean, we're talking about right here the average of CNBC and Washington Post, -22 points. Barack Obama was underwater, but not anywhere near this level. He was at -8. And George W. Bush, in the middle of the Iraq War when that was going south, he was at -20 points. So at this point, Donald John Trump is in fact holding the record for the lowest net approval rating for a president in a second term at this point in the second term of any president president in the 21st century. And if you think that's bad, and if you think this is bad, what is driving this number? It's independents, baby. It's independents. Look, all-time worst at this point in a second-term net approval rating among independents, Donald John Trump. This segment has been about baking. He takes the cake at -45 points among independents, even worse than Richard Milhous Nixon, who was about to leave office because of Watergate, who had previously held the record at -37 points, and the aforementioned George W.

Bush at -31 31 points. Donald John Trump, the worst ever rating, net approval rating with independents at this point in a second term.

Now let's bring out some of the receipts as well. So you see what this MAGA Republican cult is all about. MAGA Republican Congress members making their rounds on the MAGA Republican influencer podcasts like, uh, the Benny Johnson Show. And you've got MAGA Republican Congress members like Brandon Gale saying We're just so wealthy in the United States and everybody's thriving and everything's just so amazing here. Maybe for you, but most Americans are suffering and struggling and can't afford anything. Let's play this clip.

It has, and you know, it's one thing whenever you live in America, especially if you grow up in America, it's really easy to get used to the level of affluence that, that we take for granted every day, um, that we drive in massive pickup trucks or SUVs all everywhere we go, that guzzle gas, that we go to a supermarket and it's filled with, you know, 5,000 different types of cheeses on one aisle and then 600 different types of milk that you can buy on the next aisle. And you have this unbelievable variety of things that you can buy. That's just normal for us.

Then on Benny Johnson, they bring on another MAGA Republican cult member, Congressmember Darrell Issa. And Darrell Issa blames— this is what they're talking about today, by the way. Blaming Nancy Pelosi's husband for nearly being murdered by a lunatic Trump supporter. That's what they're talking about today. Let's play this clip right here.

What, what's going on here?

Look, he finally caught a charge. Paul Pelosi is a member of the Bohemian Club. He needs to go to the Bohemian Grove where other people drive for you. You can be drunk as can be and everything's fine. The fact is the man has serious problems. We saw it in that very dubious circumstances where he let somebody in and ended up with his head knocked. We've seen it in multiple events in Porsches and other cars that he owns and his constant drinking.

What—

what—

then you have MAGA Republican senators attacking Dr. Fauci. That's part of their position and platform right now as well. Here's MAGA Republican Senator. Let's play it.

Thanks to Tulsi Gabbard, she unleashed a treasure trove of documents right as she was leaving that really show, confirm everything that my informants have told me, that Anthony Fauci not only funded the research in Wuhan, he led the charge for covering it up. Look, this makes Watergate look like a situation where some kids broke a window at recess and they're trying to hide that from their teacher. This cover-up was exponential in so many ways as well. And then, then we would— he covered up whistleblowers. Somehow he was able to suppress whistleblowers as well. And that's why we need a special investigation.

And what's Donald Trump talking about right now? This is how Donald Trump is dealing with the affordability crisis as Americans can't afford groceries or gas, as he's escalated this never-ending catastrophic and unlawful war in Iran. He's making posts like this: Wonderful news, I've just been informed That Giant Eagle, a great American grocery company, will be lowering prices by a lot across more than 300 products this summer through Labor Day to help hardworking American families. Giant Eagle, like Walmart, is stepping up in a big, bold way to answer my call to lower costs for working families. You're trying to take credit for different supermarkets and convenience stores offering coupons. And doing sales, and you're trying to say that that demonstrates your dedication to affordability when inflation is surging, when you said you were going to make things cheaper on day one, but things are far less affordable, and hoisting us into this global economic catastrophe as well, and the economic catastrophe at home, as crude oil only has maybe a few weeks to even be left. Like, we're already at a tank bottom portion, but soon there'll just be no crude oil left in the US supply.

We're already at the lowest inventory in 45 years. And what else is Donald Trump posting about and talking about? Things like this. This was his post: Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested in any way, shape, or form while in the United States of America. He's fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protesters and has spent the last 40 years killing American soldiers and others. The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction, something that should have been dealt with years ago by previous presidents. Donald J. Trump. Interesting words: vortex and spiral of death and destruction, because I think that's how a lot of Americans feel about what Trump has done to the United States. As Doge ripped apart our government and disbanded critical programs, as Trump ripped away healthcare for millions of Americans, as Donald Trump's anti-vaxx derangement has resulted in viruses and diseases spreading throughout the United States, and as Donald Trump has gotten the United States into catastrophic, never-ending wars that nobody wants to be involved in except Donald Trump and his neocon warmongers, who certainly put America last, that's for sure.

Well, then Donald Trump posted this: Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for the killing many times over. The directive has been passed on to Secretary of War Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Daniel Cain, and every leader in the military, Donald J. Trump. So Trump escalates his catastrophic war, pretends and claims that Iran doesn't have missiles, doesn't have defense, doesn't have a military, that Iran is basically broken and begging for a deal, which we know is false. We run out of munitions. We don't have the necessary Patriot interceptors or THAAD interceptors to stop the Iranian, response to Donald Trump's escalation of the war in the various Arab nations where there are US military bases. Donald Trump has our service members basically just sitting there as targets without any really way to defend them. Uh, there have been dozens and dozens of other injuries which Donald Trump is, uh, covering up. Oh, and might I add, while all of this is taking place, the Trump regime is covering up the Epstein files as well, and that they continue to cover up child sex trafficking rings. And that's what the United States is now known for throughout the world, the country that covers up for the child pedos.

I mean, how utterly disgusting. You know, I find interesting as well, I was just— I'm not sure if you saw the story out of New Hampshire. John Sununu, MAGA Republican who's running for the Senate seat there, that he— Washington Post did this exposé, it was good reporting. So Sununu is in the Epstein files with Jeffrey Epstein saying that John Sununu has great stories to tell.. And Sununu was at this, speaking of the Middle East, this conference in Doha, Qatar, when Jeffrey Epstein was there as well, or going, or one of Epstein's people were going there. And Epstein's like, Sununu's got great stories to tell. He's got a lot of great stories to tell. And Sununu said, I've never been to Doha before. And then he had to admit to the Washington Post he had been to Doha to that conference. While Epstein said, Sununu, I mean, everywhere you look, It's just utter psychotic madness, disgusting behavior. I want to bring in right now the Democrat running for the Senate seat in New Hampshire, Chris Pappas. He's currently a member of Congress. He's running for that Senate seat. Let's bring in my interview with Democratic Congress member Chris Pappas running for that Senate seat that's now vacant because Senator Shaheen is now vacating that seat.

This is a big race, folks.

Let's bring in my interview with Congressmember Chris Pappas, Democratic Congressmember from New Hampshire, running for the Senate seat right there, the open Senate seat, running against John Sununu out there. In many ways, people like John Sununu, they want to try to push themselves to the voters of New Hampshire as they are moderates and they're, you know, nothing to see here. I'm just going to be fighting for you. But to me, it's really the wolves in sheep's clothing. I mean, we've seen that also with his brother, Chris Sununu. And, you know, it's a big issue because they're going to go out there, say we're going to be moderate, but they're going to rubber stamp this dangerous agenda, in my view, that's really hurt the people. And they go out there. It's the same shtick that we see for the elections, try to get elected and then boom, in power, screw the people. Talk to us about what's going on.

Yeah, no thanks, Ben. It's great to see you. And, uh, look, New Hampshire has a key Senate race this year, and we won't be able to take back the Senate majority if we don't win it. The race is in the margin of error in every single poll that comes out. One had it a 1-point margin just a couple of weeks ago. So we're taking this seriously. We've got an opponent with a big name that everyone in New Hampshire knows. Even people beyond New Hampshire know it. But the fact is, a vote for John Sununu is a vote for Donald Trump. He supports Trump's policies. He stands with Trump in this campaign. He supports the tariffs, the cuts to healthcare, the tax breaks for the rich and biggest corporations, and everything that's making our country less well-off, less safe right now. He stands with Trump on the war, which we know is, you know, setting back our national security, our ability to work with our partners and allies to keep our country safe, and is raising gas prices in energy costs for Americans at home. So that's the stakes in this election. It's whether we want someone who's going to be a yes man for this president, who is incredibly reckless, is ignoring the will of the American people, or whether we're going to put the needs of working families and our small businesses first by fighting for a fairer economy, standing up for what's right in Washington, and actually working to translate the will of the voters into solutions around healthcare, childcare, housing, all the issues that people are talking about right now.

So yeah, my opponent might have a big name, But he stands with Donald Trump. He stands on the wrong side of history. And this is a moment where we've got to take back the government for the people and work in a direction where we can make people's lives better. And that's what's at stake in our race.

You and I have been talking for a very long time.

I had you on in early 2025, later in 2025. And so we've kind of been tracking the progress of or the lack thereof under the Trump regime of what's been going on in New Hampshire. And it feels there like many places in this country, like almost the entire country. You know, it's— we're really in a dire situation and there's really not the right political language in normal political times to, I think, fully even address the existential nature of this moment. And sometimes, you know, you can be accused of being hyperbolic. To raise the red flag. But I find it interesting that on that, when we truly have a threat, I believe, to the very functioning of our country, of our democracy, of our— what your opponent and others are basically, you know, running on, they co-opt that message and then they basically run on the same thing, that it's an existential threat on the— and this is— and that's how they're running. I just Voters are inundated with so much.

People are just trying to get by right now on a day-to-day basis.

And the other side knows that.

And so what's this moment?

What are you hearing when you're traveling, you know, the state and hearing just from the people? Because what I hear from people is this is— and this is not normal bad. This is like really, really bad for the country.

People feel ignored fundamentally. They recognize that Donald Trump isn't acting in their best interest, that Republicans in Congress haven't put forward meaningful solutions that are going to help this country move forward. Um, and the corruption is right out in the open. And when we have a corrupt government that's serving the interests of the billionaire class, the Epstein class, the corporate special interests, it means that they're not looking out for families. That they're not investing, uh, to the degree we need to in affordable housing. Their agenda to cut healthcare is going to result in hospitals and community health centers closing in my state and all across the country. So I think about the, the people's lives that are being impacted by these policies. And it's not just Democrats. I meet a lot of Republicans who are so opposed to the overreach with respect to immigration enforcement, uh, and the policies that are targeting immigrant communities. I talked to Republicans who are vehemently opposed to this war of choice in Iran that's reckless, not making our country any safer. I talked to independent voters who don't live in a political bubble but who have seen their health insurance premiums double or triple as a result of Republican inaction on healthcare costs in Washington.

So, um, this is something that people are feeling across the board. There's an opportunity for Democrats to have a bigger conversation with voters maybe who haven't traditionally pulled the ballot for us in the last few election cycles about the future, about how everyone should have a stake and a voice, about how we can put some meaningful solutions on the table that will truly lower costs, make this economy fairer, and confront the damage to our democracy. You know, if we want to be the party of defending democracy, we have to tell people what it means. We have to tell them the implications of what it means to have a wannabe authoritarian dictator in office who's running roughshod over the law and the Constitution. It's not just about the concept of democracy. It means there are real-world implications for fairness, for the balance of power, for the ability of government to deliver for people. So this is a moment to give people the sense that there's something we can do about this problem. Donald Trump wants us to believe that he can rig the elections and that the American people won't have a voice. But the people that I'm talking to out there, they know there's something we can do, and they want to believe that politics isn't just a place for chaos and cruelty, that it's a place for some compassion too, where we can look out for our neighbors and make life better.

Your opponent, John Sununu, was asked the question, I think back in March, about whether he had been to Doha, Qatar. And he said, "No, I've never been to Doha, Qatar." Now, seemed to be a place that you knew you either went to or you didn't go to. And apparently he's been there multiple times. And this has raised other issues because within the Epstein files themselves, they mention a National Economic Forum that was taking place in Doha that I think Epstein attended at the same time John was also— Sonunu was in the same forum in Doha.

It raises a lot of questions.

Especially as we know Donald Trump's flying around in Qatari jets. We know Donald Trump's connections with Epstein, you know, and just because there's smoke doesn't always mean that there's fire. But when you lie about something as basic of, hey, Ben, did you ever go to this location? And it happens to be Doha, Qatar. No, no, it's one of these things. Okay, well, if you're willing to lie about that, are you going to lie that the reflecting pool was destroyed by vandals? Are you going to lie about the pretext? You're just going to lie about everything and just think that people aren't going You know, that to me also, in addition to supporting Trump's agenda, it's, it's the—

it's that lying makes you go, okay, what else are you hiding?

Talk to us about that.

Yeah, I mean, my opponent Johnson, who's really a poster child for the Epstein class— he was in the Senate before, uh, he had strong connections with Big Oil, Big Pharma, Wall Street, uh, and then when he was defeated by voters, really fed at the corporate trough in Washington on K Street for the last 18 years. But the fact is, he was caught in a lie by The Washington Post. He said he had never been to Qatar. This was in an email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Boris Nikolic, who was headed to this World Economic Forum conference in Qatar, um, at a conference that Johnson attended. Johnson said he wasn't there. The Washington Post found evidence that in fact he was there. It's meaningful because in the emails that came out, Epstein said to Boris, "John Sununu has good stories." So there's more information that we need about why Epstein would say that about John Sununu. I think he needs to come clean about what he knows. The voters of New Hampshire deserve answers, and they deserve to have someone representing them in the Senate who's going to stand up against the abuses of the Epstein class, who's going to fight for transparency and justice for the victims, as we've been working to do on a bipartisan basis in Congress.

But this is an issue where he was caught lying, and now we need to know what else he knows.

I mean, Epstein said the guy— and let me just get this straight, you know, because I, I knew about the story, so I just want to make sure I could break it down. So Epstein in an email says that John Sununu, who's running against you in an email says, "John Sununu has good stories." That's right.

Yeah.

Boris Nikolic, his associate, was asking Epstein, "What should I do when I go to Doha, Qatar, to this conference?" And Epstein replied, seemingly knowing that Sununu would be there, and said, "John Sununu has good stories." So there's more we need to know about what John Sununu knows. And I think the voters of New Hampshire deserve that. People are talking about it here, and he's got tough questions he's got to answer because it's clear he hasn't been truthful to date.

Congressman, before we head out, how could people learn more about the campaign? Anything you want to say to our nearly 7 million subscribers?

Yeah, we are fighting to win a tough race. This is a moment where we have to take on the big fights. We have to respond to the existential threat to our democracy. We have to give people a stake in the future. And talk about how we create opportunities to make this economy fairer, to make our country freer, to support the needs of working families, small businesses, and communities. We're working to deliver that in New Hampshire. This race matters because if we lose this seat, we're never going to be able to flip the majority in the U.S. Senate, meaning over the next couple of years, Donald Trump's going to have more ability to enact his agenda. He's going to be able to get potentially two more Supreme Court nominations through the Senate. We need senators who are willing to put the needs of our country first, hold the line against a reckless administration, uh, and focus on the future. And that's what we're working to do. So people can go to chrispappas.org to support our effort. Uh, we are up against a ton of corporate special interest money that is swamping us on the airwaves. We just know if we can get our message out, uh, voters here are fair.

They know what they're experiencing right now. They're going to want change, and we hope we can deliver a message that connects with them. So Thanks for what everyone's doing to be off the sidelines. This is the most important midterm election of our lifetime. We have to ensure that we're flipping the majorities in the House and Senate to confront the recklessness, the chaos, the cruelty. We can do that in a way where we put this country on a much better path for the future.

Yeah, I think that people want change. I think they want empathy. I think they want people who fight for them. I don't think they want more people who have good stories with Jeffrey Epstein or Jeffrey Epstein saying that they've got good stories.

That in general, I think as a general proposition, that's where we are.

But we'll see. Great, great to see you, Congressman.

Good seeing you too, Ben.

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